“The Ministry of Defence is unlawfully holding thousands of files that should have been declassified and transferred to the National Archive under the 30-year rule, including large numbers of documents about the conflict in Northern Ireland.”

“The proposal to halve from 30 to 15 years the period before government records are publicly released is both welcome and overdue. But this is only part of the answer to the question of what, and when, the public should know about how decisions are taken on their behalf, as is recognised in yesterday’s independent review by a panel including Paul Dacre, Editor of the Daily Mail, who was chairman; Professor Sir David Cannadine, the historian; and Sir Joe Pilling, a retired Permanent Secretary.”